"Front Runners" Episode Guide | The Clone Wars - Season 5, Episode 3

Former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano once served as the Padawan learner to the Jedi Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars. A respected leader and warrior attuned to the light side of the Force, Ahsoka grew into a formidable fighter before the Empire’s reign changed the course of galactic history. Although she walked away from the Jedi Order, she continued to stand up for those fighting for peace and justice in the galaxy long after the fall of the Republic.

A young native of Onderon, Steela and her brother Saw were members of the insurgency that opposed the rise of King Sanjay Rush, and Rush's alignment of the planet to the cause of the Separatists during the Clone Wars. Not as boisterous or as outspoken as her brother, Steela was nonetheless firmly dedicated to the cause of Onderonian independence. She was not one for impassioned speeches or political rhetoric. These were not her areas of expertise, and she felt far more comfortable peering through the macroscope of her blaster rifle. A crack shot, Steela racked up an impressive number of droid kills with precise headshots fired from the cover of canopy jungle.

A battered veteran of the Clone Wars, at the dawn of the Empire Saw Gerrera continues to lead a band of insurgents and extremists, the first of what will become countless rebel cells locked in a civil war with the Empire. Saw loses much in his decades of combat, but occasional flashes of the charismatic and caring man he once was shine through his calloused exterior. Even in his later years, when Gerrera is bunkered on the ancient world of Jedha, coordinating a prolonged insurgency against the Imperial occupation, his ailing health does little to wither his resolve to fight.

The son of Separatist Senator Mina Bonteri, Lux was young, idealistic, and skeptical of the aims of the Republic and the Jedi Knights. His father was a fervent supporter of the Separatists, and was killed by clone troopers on Aargonar. Lux did not know what to make of Ahsoka Tano and her visit to Separatist space. After a failed peace overture begun by Mina extended to the Republic, Lux’s mother died, assassinated on Count Dooku’s orders. After making an ill-fated effort to avenge her by killing Dooku, Lux joined the anti-Separatist resistance on his homeworld of Onderon. After the rebels defeated the Separatists, Lux became Onderon’s Republic Senator.

King Ramsis Dendup refused to commit Onderon to the Clone Wars, thinking that neutrality would spare the planet from the violent conflict. Sanjay Rash knew better. To ensure Onderon's prosperity and strength in the shifting galaxy would require a strong alliance -- and that meant striking an accord with the Separatists. Through methods cloaked in intrigue, Rash assumed the crown of Onderon, deposing Dendup and branding him a powerless old crone. Rash then allowed the Separatists to establish a firm foothold, cementing his rule of the planet.